US
SXSW Crash Claims Third Victim
SXSW Crash Claims Third Victim
When a vehicle driven by an alleged drunk driver slammed into a crowd of people enjoying festivities at the recent South by Southwest Festival in Austin last Thursday, Sandy Thuy Le was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries. The 26-year old Le has now become the third fatality caused by the crash that occurred outside the popular Mohawk Music Club.
Rashad Owens was already trying to evade police when he drove his car through a safety barricade and crashed directly into a crowd of music goers who were partying in the city’s Red River Entertainment District. In addition to causing injuries to 21 festival goers, Owens’ actions resulted in two people dead at the scene.
Photo By courtesy Rashad Owens, the suspect in the SXSW wreck that killed two people, is seen in an undated booking mug provided Friday, March 14, 2014. He has been charged with two counts of capital murder.
Le was never taken off the critical list, according to hospital officials, and she sustained very serious head injuries which ultimately led to her death on Monday.
Family members were mourning her passing, recalling Le as a quirky, selfless person who was always carefree and full of a zest for life.
Stuart Gates, Le’s brother-in-law, said she was surrounded by friends and family when she died Monday morning. She came from a Vietnamese-American shrimping family that had lost their home in Hurricane Katrina and had to stop working during the BP gulf oil spill.
“She was super-intelligent, one of those types that never let college get in the way of her education,” he said, adding that she had moved to Austin three years ago to finish her college degree. “She was a brilliant person, a wonderful personality and bubbly in a fun way, real outgoing. A live life to the fullest type.”
In addition to Le, the SXSW car crash also claimed the lives of 35-year old bicyclist Steven Craenmehr, and 27-year old moped rider Jamie West.
A total of seven people who were injured by the crash continue to remain hospitalized, five of them at University Medical Center in Austin and two others at local hospitals.
Owens, the 21-year old driver who caused such devastation, was taken into immediate custody, charged with aggravated assault with a motor vehicle as well as capital murder.
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Online:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/17/sandy-le-dead-sxsw-car-crash_n_4980485.html